Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Finnegan Score

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The Finnegan's NAS scoring system lists 21 symptoms that are most frequently observed in infants after intrauterine exposure to certain (illicit or prescription) drugs and is used to determine initiation of pharmacologic therapy. These symptoms are most commonly seen in opiate-exposed infants, but also seen after exposure to sedatives, polysubstance abuse, and occasionally barbiturates and alcohol.
The original instrument was designed for term babies on four-hourly feeds and may therefore need modification for preterm infants.